Perks of Working as a Probationary Officer in SBI

There is not an inch of doubt in the fact that State Bank of India (SBI) is the best public-sector bank in India. This is not just because of the size of the bank, but also because of the level of benefits and respect that employees of SBI get.

So, being at a managerial level post in SBI gives you that extra prestige in society and the benefits that you get are totally unmatched.

Let’s discuss in details about the perks of working as a PO in SBI:

SBI PO Job Profile and Growth Prospects

Many candidates are unaware of what a bank PO does. So today we explain to you that what actually you are going to do after clearing the SBI PO exam.

After the appointment, you will be given 2 years of management training, which will be on-the-job training and you will be paid your full salary. In this training, you will be taught from the lowest to the highest level of work involved in a bank.

After training, your knowledge and performance will be evaluated and you will be appointed to a managerial level post which is (Assistant Manager).

You can rise very quickly in this corporate ladder and can become bank manager in no time if you keep on doing hard work. The highest level you can attain by starting your career as SBI PO is the chairman and managing director of the bank, which is actually the highest level of job SBI offers. This simply means that the scope of this job is unlimited.

Also, SBI has a lot of international presence as well. So you can get to work in foreign branches as well.

SBI PO Salary Details

Take a look at the following table, which constitutes most of the parts of the Salary of a SBI PO –

Component of Salary

Amount

Basic Pay

INR 27620 (4 increments applicable)

Dearness Allowance

Around 46-47% , is revised quarterly

City Compensatory Allowance

3% or 4%, depends upon the city

Leased Accommodation Benefit

INR 8000 to 29500, depending upon the place of accommodation

House Rent Allowance

9%, 8% or 7% depending upon the place (Only one benefit from HRA or leased accommodation is attainable)

Medical Insurance

100% for employees and 75% for family members of employees

Travelling Allowance

For office travels, reimbursement of fare up to AC Tier 2 is given

Petrol Reimbursement

Around INR 1000-1200, depends upon the place and amount of daily travel

You must understand that there is no such fixed amount of salary that they can expect from this job. It is quite possible that two SBI PO’s appointed at the same time may have different salaries.

Perks of Working at SBI

Salary of an SBI PO comprises a lot of components:

Basic Pay

First all, basic pay does not mean the cash you will get each month. Basic pay is the actual salary which you are given for your work only. But, as we know that public sector provides a lot of benefits to its employees, the actual salary is quite higher than the basic pay. However, most of the benefits that are given to SBI PO are calculated on the basis of basic pay.

Dearness Allowance

Dearness allowance is actually given to compensate the impact of inflation. As the cost of living keeps on changing all the time, employees are given DA in addition to Basic Pay, so that they can live their life smoothly.

Also, as the cost of living or inflation keeps on fluctuating. Therefore, DA is also revised after every 3 months. Higher levels of inflation may result in higher DA, while lower levels of inflation may result in the decrease in DA.

City Compensatory Allowance

City Compensatory Allowance is given to those employees who are living in large cities or the cities in which cost of living is high. As in the bigger city, the cost of living is much higher than smaller cities, employees’ expenses need to compensate with some extra salary.

Therefore, the bank provides 3% or 4% of the basic salary to the employee, depending on the city in which he/she is appointed. Such an allowance is not given to all the employees.

Leased Accommodation

Sometimes, SBI provides accommodation to its employees. Since the bank is incurring a cost of your accommodation, it takes the rent of such accommodation as part of your salary.

This benefit may vary according to the city in which you are working. In cities like Mumbai, it may go as high as INR 29,000 per month, on the other hand it can be INR 8000 per month as well.

House Rent Allowance

It is quite possible that bank may be unable to provide accommodation to the employee. If in such a case, the employee is living in a house which he/she has rested on his own, then the bank tries to compensate the rent which the employee is paying. HRA may be 7, 8 or 9%, according to the city in which employee is living.

Medical Insurance

This is one of biggest factor which plays in favor of Public Sector jobs. SBI provides 100% coverage for medical expenses of its employees. On the other hand, you may get 75% coverage on the medical expenses of your family members.

Travelling Allowance

Bank reimburses the expenses which you do on travelling for work. If you travel by train, fare up to the extent of what is charged for AC-2 tier ticket will be reimbursed by the bank.

Petrol Reimbursement

Sometimes the actual workplace (branch) may be a bit far away from the place at which employee is residing. Therefore, employee will need to incur expenses on commutation from home to branch. In such a case, bank reimburses the money spent to petrol in such travelling. This benefit is highly variable and it depends entirely on your location.

Benefits for purchasing and maintaining furniture

SBI also provides a one-time lump sum benefit for purchasing furniture. On joining, employees are provided with INR 120000 for getting furniture. Employees may also get around INR 2000 monthly for maintenance of such furniture. A yearly allowance of INR 12000 may also be given for such furniture.

Mobile/Internet Bill Reimbursement

SBI also reimburses the expenses that employees may need to do on their mobile phone and internet. Generally, this reimbursement is around 500-600 per month.

Newspaper/Magazine Bill Reimbursement

The bank also provides some amount of expense being done by the employee on reading newspapers or magazines. This benefit is usually around INR 550 per month.

Leave Policy

Leave policy of SBI for their probationary officers is highly friendly. An SBI PO gets 33 days of with-benefit leaves along with sick leave and maternity take off. Ladies and single men with youngsters or matured parents have the option of taking a holiday surrender of over two years.

Concessional Loans

Another important benefit of being an SBI PO is that you get concessional loans from bank. So, if you want to take a home loan, two-wheeler loan or 4 wheeler-loan, bank will provide it to you on much lower rates. Also, educational loans to meritorious children of employees are given at lower rates.

Smart Compensation Package

SBI has the policy of ‘Smart Compensation Package’ for its employees. Under this, the employees are given the option to monetize some part of their benefits, which increases the cash component of the salary.

Hope, by now you must have got a fair idea of how fulfilling your life can be, after qualifying SBI PO. Our recommendation to every aspirant is to think about these perks and then kick-start your preparation. As motivation can get you the best results.

Hemant Tilotia

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